Pressure operated valve



Nov. 2, 1950 w. E. SHAFER v 2,532,123

PRESSURE OPERATED VALVE Filed Mardh 21, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mum? A /NVEN 702 ZZW/ WH77OENY Patented Nov. 28, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PRESSURE OPERATED VAiVE William E1. Shafen; San Francisco, Calif;

Application March 21', 1945,,Serial No. 5852896 such a valve. having an improved and. simplified.

mode of'operation.

It is another object. of this invention to. provide such a valve which may be operatedto open member, of the'fluid controlled bythe valve; and

is adapted tobe-unseatedby'the pressureacting" in theopposite direction ona* member'connected withtheclosure and havinga larger area than 5" the closure member". To simplify the control" and' improve the" operation of the valve; the chamber in which the pressure acts to unseat the closure isventeclby'a small, constantly open port. Thus, by admitting fiuid under pressure and to close in response to the manipulation of. 0 to this space in an amount greater than can a plug cock,,a globevalve, or any conventional. two-way valve.

It. isanother object of this invention taprovi'de; such a valve. in which. danger. of the valve.

pass out through the vent; the valve will: be opened. When this amount is less than the vent'will'disch'arge, the valve will close. In this way; a. single valve-controlled connection,

accidentally remaining in openpositionismini- 15:: adapted fiflmlg'ct the p s C m W h mized.

It. is another object of. this invention to provide such a valve whichis so arranged that abrupt closing is prevented. In; this way, severe shocksi I 2m chamber when it is desired that the main valve and water. hammer are prevented.

It is a still further object of thisinventionto. provide a valve which is particularly suitedfor use asa blow-off for permitting. the dischargeof mud and sediment from steam boilers,- andthe like, without interfering with their operation.

This invention possesses many other advantages, and has other objects which may be. made more clearly apparentfroin aconsiderationr of;

severaliembodiments of: the invention. For this, 3

purpose there are. shown a few forms in. the

drawings accompanying andiforming part ofithe;

present specification. These forms. will now be, described in detail, illustrating the. general prin-; ciplesof the invention; but it is to-be under stood that this detailed. description is not to. be; taken in a limiting sense, since the scope of: the:

invention is best defined by. the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a sectional view showing a: valve,-

Fig. 3 is afragmentary section on. anenlarged scale, showing a modified form of the valve of Fig. 1;

Fig. lis a. cross section, taken asindicatedeby line 44 of. Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing a.

further modified form of valve; and

Fig.6 is afragmentary section showinga vfur,- ther modification ofthe valve-of Fig.1.

Referring to Figs. 1 and-.2 offtheg-v drawings, a:

valve is shown inwhich the valveclos-ureisrurgedf to seat. by the pressure, on. the; valve closure the source of fluid controllediby the main valve,

serves to operate the main valve to open and to close: The. constantly, open vent servesnot only as an. escape for fluidfrom the pressure axis? and provided with oppositely. directednoze zles 3' and 4 forming the inlet and outlet pas sages 5 and 5,.respectively. As a means of connecting thevalve body la-conduit, aboiler, or the. like, theinlet nozzle 3. is provided with an integral flange l whichis shown by; way of example as: connected by boltsttoa companion. flange. 9. on apipe line We. The nozzle ids internally threaded with astandard pipe thread I l to-receivea tail pipe. As'will. appear from.

an. inspection of Fig. 1,. the valve. body 8 is streamlinedl; that is, the. nozzle dis. positioned low on the body so. as to. give a free discharge through the'outlet 6:and:avoid.po.ckets or caviq ties therein whichare-likely to retainportionsa of the material L discharged: by; the valve:

Theinlet and outlet passagesiand G are sepa-- ratedby a web walll l in' body [,havinga portz l5 by which. the passages are. adapted to beincommunication; andprovidingsalvalve seat litter the valve closure member l1. The upper end per-- .tion of body'l. is-exteriorl y threaded,,:as at It, to

accommodate a capg zll. I'hiscapZfi a down wardly pro-J ecting: boss E2 I: with acylindricalbore: 22 forreceivingand:guiding;the.xuppervend;por

tion 123; of .avalvelstem 247.011 which isufixedgthei- 55; valve. closures member: 1| :ll. This: upper: .end;.por-' tion 23 is provided with a squared portion 23-41 adapted to be engaged by a wrench to facilitate assembly and disassembly of the valve stem and connected parts.

The lower end portion of the body i is elongated to form a cylinder 25 for accommodating a piston 26 fixed on a reduced portion 24-a of stem 24 by a castellated nut 27. The cylinder 25 is closed at its upper end by a wall 28, which separates the cylinder from the outlet passage 4 and, at its lower end, by a cap 29 threaded on body I at 3B. The piston 26 thus serves to divide the cylinder 25 into upper and lower chambers 34 and 32. The chamber 3i is in continuous communication with the outlet passage 4 by clearance of the order of one-sixty-fourth of an inch provided in wall 28 around valve stem 24.

Chambers 3! and 32 are also in continuous communication with each other by a port 2S-a extending through the piston 26. In this way, drainage of chamber 3! to prevent accumulation of liquid therein is provided. The top of piston 26 has an annular depression 25-22 from which the port 26--a leads. Port 26a has an upper constricted portion 33 of small diameter, for example, one thirty-second of an inch and of short length, opening into a larger conical portion 34. In this way, any tendency of the port 26a to become clogged is obviated.

Pressure in the discharge line H) acts on valve closure H to maintain it seated, and means are provided for optionally admitting pressure from the source with which the line I is connected to chamber 32, where it acts on piston 26 to unseat valve I1, due to the greater area of the piston 2% as compared with the valve closure 17. For this purpose, a conduit 31 is shown for supplying pressure to chamber 32, a control valve 38 being interposed in the conduit 3'! for controlling passage of fluid therethrough. In the event that the line it! is a blow-off line for discharging mud or accumulated solids from a boiler, or the like, the conduit 31 must be connected to the boiler at a point sufficiently high to ensure against passage of such solids into the cylinder 25, preferably at a point where only dry steam will be delivered t the cylinder. On the other hand, if the line H3 is handling only clear liquids, the conduit 31 may be connected directly to the line ill, as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 1. v

A pipe fitting 39 in the form of a cross also is interposed in conduit 31, being positioned between control valve 38 and the cylinder chamber 32. A venting conduit 4Q leads from the cross 2-9 'to a constantly open vent 4! in the discharge passage 6 (see, also, Fig. 2). The vent 4| is of small size, for example, having a diameter of threethirty-seconds of an inch, and may be formed in any convenient manner. Thus, the conduit 43 may be of flexible copper tubing connected to the valve body I by a conventional solderless fitting 42 of the type usually known as a Parker fitting. However, the body 43 of fitting 42 is modified by having the passage 44 therethrough reduced in size to serve as the vent 4|. As clearly shown in Fig. 2, the passage 44 is tapered, to provide an increasing cross section in the direction of .discharge, thus avoiding danger of clogging.

It is to be noted that the fitting 42 is inclined in the direction of the fluid flow through the outlet passage 6. In this way, the fitting 42 acts as an eductor when the valve 4 is discharging, the dischargin fluid acting to reduce the pressure in the chamber 32. It is not essential that the vent 4| be in the discharge nozzle 4 however. This is necessary only when it is desired to prevent loss of fluid which the valve i is handling; otherwise, the vent 4i may be open to the atmosphere.

The downwardly directed branch 39a of the cross 39 is arranged to drain the conduits 37 and 40, as well as cylinder 25. For this purpose, it may be provided with a small drain port of suitable size which is constantly open, instead of the vent 4!. However, with such an arrangement, substantial escape of the controlled fluid occurs through such port when pressure is applied to open the valve I.

Accordingly, the branch 39-a is provided with a drain valve structure 45 having a port 46 which is open when the valve is not subjected to pressure, but is arranged to be closed when pressure is applied to the valve. Such a valve is disclosed in a patent granted to William E. Shafer on J anuary 12, 1943, bearing Patent Number 2,307,963, and entitled Blowofi Valve System. In this way, proper drainage of the parts is assured and, at the same time, escape of the controlled fluid isprevented.

The operation of the valve is very simple. With the control valve 38 closed, pressure of the controlled fluid maintains the closure H seated. At the same time, the drain valve 45 is open to permit any residual liquid or leakage to drain from the valve body I and cylinder 25 through port 46. When it is desired to unseat the closure ll, the valve 38 is opened to admit fluid pressure to chamber 32, where it acts to move piston 2S upwardly and unseat the closure. As long as valve 38 is open, the closure I1 is maintained unseated. When valve 38 is closed, the fluid in chamber 32 finds a ready escape through conduit 49 and the constantly open vent 4!, so that the pressure on valve closure ll, together with the weight of the closure, urges the closure to seat. Thus, an escape path is always open, and is effective even if the pressure in chamber 32 may be suificient to close port 46 in drain valve 45.

For exerting an additional force urging the closure i! to seat, particularly if there is any pressure built up in the outlet passage 6, or any turbulence below the port l5 tending to maintain the closure ll unseated, pressure of the discharging fluid is permitted to enter chamber 3| freely through the clearance provided about the stem 24. Such pressure thus exerts a force on the upper side of the piston 26, urging the piston 26 and the closure I! downwardly. Such pressure will exceed that in chamber 32, due to the reduction of pressure therein by the eductor action of the vent 45 in the arrangement shown, or in case the vent is open to the atmosphere.

As a means of unseating closure 1! when no pressure is present, for this purpose a cap screw 4'? is threaded through head 29 which, by appropriate rotation, engages the lower end of stem 24 and raises the closure i! from its seat 16. A look nut 48 is provided for retaining the screw 41 in its lowered position, free of stem 24.

To improve the operation of the valve when handling water or other clear liquid, it may be desirable to provide a constriction in the conduit 31, such as indicated diagrammatically at 49'. This constriction may provide an opening of five-thirty-seconds of an inch when the vents,

clearances, and other parts have the sizes previously indicated as desirable. Such a constriction blow-ofi valve, operated by dry steam.

It may be desirable to provide a larger port 55. throughthe piston 28* to permitfreer drainage from chamber it. Inthis case, means must be provided toprevent too rapid transfer ofpressure from chamber 32 to chamber 3| when it is desired to open the valve. Such an arrangeni'entis shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Therein, the piston 26 is shown as having a drain port 50" with an upper end portion having a diameterof the order of one-eighth of an inch, an inter mediate threaded portion 52 of larger diameter, and a counterbore 53 at its lower end. A- tubular valve cage- 54 is threaded into the port 50, and provides a downwardly facing valve seat 55, as well as enclosing a ball check 55- for. free movement to and away from the seat. Fingers j 51 are found on the cage 54- for retaining ball Setherein, being bent to the position shown. after theball is-placed in the body.

When the pressure inchamber 32 does not substantially exceed the pressure in chamber 3|, the ba1l'56' rests in fingers El, as shown by the full. lines in: Fig. 3, permittin free drainage from chamber 31 downwardly through the valve cage 54. However, upon. an increase oi fluid pressure in chamber 32, the fluid. pressure serves to seat ball 55, preventing upward passage of fluid through the valvecage.

In' the form of the invention disclosed in Fig. 5, a valve is shown which is similar to the first describedform, wherein the pressure of. the controlled fluid is relied on to close the valve. However, in. this case, the valve is arranged to open in response to release of such pressure: this type of." valve isnot well adapted for use as blow-off orfor handling liquids containing solids, but opcrates-Well with clear liquids.

The: valve comprises a valve body 6| having-an integral: flange 62 by which it may be attached to a pipeline 53. The body ti has an inlet passage 65 and an outlet space 55 separated by a web wall 6'! having'a port 68 therein which provides a seat 69 for a valve closure member Ell. When the closure member it is seated, communication between the inlet passages 65 and the outlet space 56 is interrupted.

The body E! has an outlet nozzle H, shown as axially aligned with the inlet 65 and interiorly threaded at 72 to receive atail pipe (not shown). If= desired, the nozzle H could be located below the inlet at. to give a streamlined discharge, as shown in Fig- 1. The body 5! alsohas upper'and lower bosses l3 and i4 axially aligned with seat 69. The lower bossl-l provides an additional outlet !5 fromthe space 56, and is exteriorly threaded. to receive an adapter 16 to which a tail pipe (notlshown) may be attached. Both outlets H and may be used, or. either may be closed as desired, andonly one used.

The upper boss 13 is also exteriorly threaded for attachment to an. operating cylinder H, which has alower integral head or Wall lSseparating the space within the cylinder from the inlet passage 65 in the body 6|. The upper end of the cylinder l! is closed by head 19, threaded on the cylinder at 8! V A piston 3! serves to divide the cylinder '5'!" into upper and-lower chambers 82 and 83, and is con nected to the closure member is by a valve stem 84 freely slidable through a, suitable opening in wall 18. The valve stem 84 has a reduced upper portion 84-a upon which the piston 8! is secured by a castellated nut 85 threaded on the reduced portion 84a. The stem 84 may have a square lower extension 86 to facilitate assembly and disassembly of the piston 8| and the valve stem.

The lower chamber 83 is continuouscom-- municationwith the valveinletBE, asbya D 11 rality' of ports 88 through wall 78, and also-with the upper chamber 82- as by a port 89 through the piston 8-1 Itisessential, as 'will presently appear, that the area of the port 89 through the piston be substantially less than the area of the port or ports-88 through the wall '58. Thus, for example, theremay be three ports-83, each having a slamet'er. of one-eighth of an inch, and but one port 89- of about the same diameter.

The upper chamber 82 is adapted to communi cate with the discharge space 66 by a conduit 90 having a control valve 9| interposed therein and connected to the cylinder head Taby a pipe T 92. This T 92. has its run extending axially above valve stem 84, a special: pipe plug Q3 being threades. in. its upper end". This plug 93 has a straight reduced: portion t l, thelower end 94 c of which is adapted to be engaged by the upper end of the valvev stem 8A, thereby serving to limit: upward movement of piston 8!. and valve T0.

Since the conduit 90 may be quite small; suchas' one-eighth inch. pipe size, and T 92 must be: large enough to-aiccominodate the. rod-94 (for ex--- ample, tliree -ei'ghths inch.- pipe size) the. conduit i'sconnected to-the T by a special reducing bush:- in-g-Qii pacoviding arestrictediport'fll with adiameter,.for.- example, of the orderof thirteen sixtyfourths of. an inch.

With. the control. valve 8''! closed, fluid. pressure in; the inlet passage 6:5? will: act on'thev upper surface of. closure.l.0,: urging. it to seat. It will-also act. chamber 83, via. ports. 88,. to urge piston 8;! upwardly, and in chamber 82., via port 89; to urge piston; 81 downwardly. Since there; is a. preponderance of areaon which the pressureacts to urge the piston. at and. closure ll] downward, the closure w ll: remain. seated.

When. it; is desired to unseat the closure 1.0; the control valve 91, is opened, releasing the pressure in. chamber 8 2. Fluid. pressure is still present in chamber 83 urgingpistonsi upwardly; and, since the piston 81' hasa substantially greater-- area on which the pressure acts than does the closure member Hi; the piston 81 and closure-10'- move upwardly and open port 68. When thecontrol- Valveas is closed, the original pressure condi tions are re-established and closure 10 is urged to seat. It will be apparent that port 89 must not be of such size as to-permit fluid pressure to escape fromchamber 83 as fast as it enters throughports 88, as this would prevent the building up of pressurein chamber 83 required to move piston 8i upwardly. Further, the restricted size of port ts'prevents too rapid building up of pressure in chamber 82 when it is desired to close the. valve, thus preventing the closure ill being seated with a severe shock.

While specific sizes for ports and the like have been mentioned, it is to be understood that these aremerely illustrative and have been found satisfactory with valves of certain proportions operating injccrtain pressure, ranges, and are not necessarily such. as would be satisfactory with differ.- ently. proportioned. valves operating under higher or lower pressures, or in other temperature ranges.

In Fig. 6 a modification of the valve of Fig. 1 is shown, in which the constantly open vent is arranged to ensure complete drainage of the outlet passage, parts corresponding with those of Fig. 1 bearing the same numbers followed by a. For this purpose, the fitting 42-a is positioned in the bottom of the nozzle 4--a and is inclined as before to give an eduction effect. The nozzle 42--a is of such length as to extend slightly into the discharge opening 6-a. Thus a shoulder 42-b is formed which deflects the discharging material up and over the mouth of the passage 44-a, as indicated by the arrow, preventing accumulation of solids in the passage. It will be clear that, with this arrangement, when there is no pressure in chamber 32, continuous drainage from the lowest point of the outlet passage 6 is provided via vents 4la and the connections thereto.

The inventor claims:

1. In a valve, a valve body having a vertically directed axis and inlet and outlet passages with overlapping portions separated by a wall in the body, there being an axial port through said wall adapted to establish communication between said passages, a closure member for controlling the port and urged to closed position by fluid pressure in the inlet passage, a cylinder connected to the body adjacent said outlet passage and closed at its opposite ends, a piston slidable in said clyinder and connected to operate said closure member, and co-operating with the cylinder to form a pair of chambers, there being a restricted port through said piston for establishing communication between the chambers, means whereby that chamber adjacent the outlet passage is in continuous communication with the outlet passage, means forming a constantly open vent for the other chamber at the lower end of said other chamber, and means for optionally admitting fluid under pressure to said other chamber at a rate greater than that at which said fluid can escape through said vent and said restricted port, to move the piston to actuate the closure.

2. In a valve, a valve body having a vertically directed axis and inlet and outlet passages with overlapping portions separated by a wall in the body, there being an axial port through said wall adapted to establish communication between said passages, a closure member for controlling the port and urged to closed position by fiuid pressure in the inlet passage, a cylinder connected to the body adjacent said outlet passage and closed at its opposite ends, a piston slidable in said cylinder and connected to operate said closure member, and co-operating with the cylinder to form a pair of chambers, means whereby that chamber adjacent the outlet passage is in continuous communication with said outlet passage, means forming a constantly open vent for the other chamber, there being a port through said piston whereby said chambers are normally in communication, means for admitting fluid pressure to said other chamber at a rate greater than fluid can escape from said vent, and means for closing said piston port in response to said fluid pressure.

3. In a valve, a valve body having a vertically directed axis and inlet and outlet passages with overlapping portions separated by a wall in the body, there being an axial port through said wall adapted to establish communication between said passages, a closure member for controlling the port and urged to closed position by fluid pressure in the inlet passage, a cylinder connected to the body adjacent said outlet passage and closed at its opposite ends, a piston slidable in said cylinder and connected to operate said closure member, and co-operating with the cylinder to form a pair of chambers, there being a restricted port through said piston for establishing communication between the chambers, means whereby that chamber adjacent the outlet passage is in continuous communication with the outlet passage, means forming a constantl open vent between the other chamber and said outlet passage and arranged to form an eductor whereby the pressure in said other chamber is reduced below that created in the chamber adjacent the said passage by said fluid when the closure is unseated, to urge the closure to seat.

4. In a valve, a valve body having inlet and outlet passages with overlapping portions separated by a wall in the-body, there being a port through said wall adapted to establish communication between said passages, a closure member for controlling the port and urged to closed position by fluid pressure in the inlet passage, a cylinder connected to the body adjacent one of said passages and closed at its opposite ends, a piston slidable in said cylinder and connected to operate said closure member, and cooperating with the cylinderto form a pair of chambers, there being a restricted port through said piston for establishing communication between the chambers, means whereby that chamber adjacent said one passage is in continuous communication with said one passage, means forming a constantly open vent between the other chamber and said outlet passage and arranged to form an eductor whereby the pressure in said other chamber is reduced below that created in the chamber adjacent the said one passage by said fluid when the closure is unseated, to urge the closure to seat.

WILLIAM E. SHAFER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS- Number Name Date 540,003 Reed May 28, 1895 551,370 Donnelly Dec. 17, 1895 62%,890 Batchelor May 9, 1899 848,951 Aeppli-Stocker Apr. 2, 1907 859,152 Tippett July 2, 1907 1,233,898 Miller July 17, 1917 1,250,388 Titus Dec. 18, 1917 1,307,207 Mitchell June 17, 1919 1,461,835 Strond July 17, 1923 1,548,093 McCormick Aug. 4, 1925 1,750,317 Hope Mar. 11, 1930 2,177,099 Dreyer Oct. 24, 1939 2,205,033 Dreyer June 18, 1940 2,319,907 Stirling May 25, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 455,133 Germany Jan. 25, 1928 551,248 Great Britain Feb. 15, 1943 

